Barak: Liberman’s assaults on Abbas ‘harm Israel’s interests’

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman’s disparaging remarks on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the UN General Assembly are not in Israel’s best interests, said Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday.

“If Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad lose control of the territories, as Liberman dreams will happen, then Hamas will rule in their place,” Barak reportedly said in a closed meeting, according to Army Radio. “Liberman’s remarks harm Israel’s interests,” he added.

Barak said that he intends to ask Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to convene an urgent meeting to coordinate government policy towards the Palestinian Authority.

The foreign minister harshly criticized Abbas’s speech before the UN last week, calling the PA president “the main and biggest obstacle currently facing the peace process” and stating that “as long as Abbas continues to hold office, there is no chance that Israelis and Palestinians will come to an agreement.”

In a Sunday Haaretz interview, Liberman labeled the speech, where Abbas referred to Israel as an “occupying power” and accused the government of supporting “ethnic cleansing” and “settler crimes,” as “worse than a slap in the face.”